Kerry Pechter, Author at Retirement Income Journal

Articles by Author: Kerry Pechter

Editor and Publisher of Retirement Income Journal, Kerry Pechter is author of Annuities for Dummies (Wiley, 2008) and former editor of the SourceMedia publication, Annuity Market News/Retirement Income Reporter. He has been an annuity columnist for Senior Market Advisor, and his feature articles have appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Men's Health and many other national publications. From 1997 to 2006, he was a writer and editor supporting the Retirement Resource Center at The Vanguard Group. In 2009, he traveled to Taiwan and reported on the retirement industry there as a fellow of the National Press Foundation. A graduate of Kenyon College and recipient of a fellowship in creative writing at Indiana University, Pechter resides in Emmaus, PA, with his wife Lisa, the director of marketing and publicity for the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival at DeSales University.

‘Income America’ Offers ‘5ForLife’

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Mar 4, 2021

'Our clients are so past proprietary solutions,” said Scott Colangelo, who brought Lincoln Financial, Nationwide, American Century funds, Vanguard, Fidelity and others together to create Income America 5ForLife, an...

Published March 4, 2021

Beware the ‘Specialized’ ETFs

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Feb 25, 2021

In this month's Research Roundup, RIJ shares four recent academic papers on the proliferation of ETFs, the danger (or not) of national debt, rational inflation expectations, and the impact...

Published February 25, 2021

‘Bermuda Triangle’ Deal for Principal Financial?

By Kerry Pechter

Principal Financial Group, Elliott Investment Management, and Prosperity Life (majority owned by Elliott) may be headed for the same type of 'capital liberating' reinsurance deal that so many other...

Published February 25, 2021

Jackson National Puts Its Future in Veteran Hands

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Feb 18, 2021

Laura Prieskorn (left) and Marcia Wadsten are the new CEO and CFO of Jackson National Life. The leading seller of variable annuities in the US is in the process...

Published February 18, 2021

The Southwest Book Trader Contemplates Retirement

By Kerry Pechter

George Hassan, owner of Southwest Book Trader in Durango, Colorado, told me about his confrontation with Hunter S. Thompson, and about his bouts of CRS and CSS.

Published February 18, 2021

Which ‘Dependency Ratio’ Should We Use?

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Feb 11, 2021

Economists typically use the 'aged dependency ratio' to show the burden of the Social Security program on workers. But the 'total dependency ratio' might be more informative. (Photo by...

Published February 11, 2021

Who Stormed the Capitol? Future Retirees

By Kerry Pechter

Everyone at the Capitol on Jan. 6 will be a retiree. To understand their anger, and its implications, I attended a Brookings Institution webcast this week on 'rage and...

Published February 11, 2021

Boola-Boola, Retirement Moolah

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Feb 4, 2021

Yale's $7 billion 403(b) plan offers TIAA's RetirePlus Pro target-date solution to its 27,000 active and retired participants. The portfolios use Vanguard and TIAA CREF funds, and a liquid...

Published February 4, 2021

Groundhog Day (Again) in D.C.

By Kerry Pechter

Last Tuesday was Groundhog Day. The event reminded me of the Bill Murray movie, which reminded me of Washington, D.C., where our legislators seem happy to take the same...

Published February 4, 2021

How to Solve the World’s Retirement Crisis

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Jan 28, 2021

Retrofitting 401(k) plans with lifetime income options is one of the thorniest challenges of our time. We describe three possible solutions to that puzzle, from Nobelist Robert Merton and...

Published January 28, 2021

Watch now: A ‘Deep Dive on Retirement Drawdown Strategies’

By Kerry Pechter Fri, Jan 22, 2021

This one-hour video of yesterday's webinar, sponsored by The American College, features retirement income specialists Joe Elsasser and James DiLellio. Some 1,800 advisers attended. Our story summarizes the webinar...

Published January 22, 2021

NY Life, Schwab Flex Their Annuity Muscles

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Jan 21, 2021

New York Life's new IndexFlex VA has a fixed indexed sleeve--the insurer's first index-linked offering. Charles Schwab's Genesis VA (issued by Protective Life) has lots of income optionality. The...

Published January 22, 2021

Modeling Variable Annuity Owner Behavior

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Jan 14, 2021

Americans own almost $900 billion worth of variable annuities with lifetime income guarantees. Uncertainty over the way policyholders and their advisers might use the contracts can keep life insurer...

Published January 14, 2021

Why Sammons MYGA Sales Spiked in 2020

By Kerry Pechter Wed, Jan 13, 2021

'No one predicted the pandemic, but when spreads gapped, we had an opportunity get some attractive yields. So we saw a monstrous increase in sales of fixed multi-year guaranteed...

Published January 14, 2021

Trends RIJ Will Track in 2021

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Jan 7, 2021

When will annuities be loved? After all the creative destruction of the past 10 years, what’s next for the annuity industry? Which trends will persist? Which products will flourish?...

Published January 7, 2021

Building a Bridge to Social Security

By Kerry Pechter

Middle-class people who retire before age 70 should spend 401(k) assets first and delay taking Social Security, says a leading retirement income expert. In a new research paper, she...

Published January 7, 2021

Making Peace with the Tax Man

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Dec 17, 2020

I’ve adopted a few rationalizations that make it tolerable, if not exactly sweet, to send large checks to Uncle Sam each quarter.

Published December 17, 2020

The Catch-22 of In-Plan Annuities

By Kerry Pechter

Fixed deferred annuities may be the most promising candidates for inclusion in 401(k) plans. But in order to adapt these contracts to the defined contribution space, they must lose...

Published December 17, 2020

Bermuda Triangle Part IV: The Reinsurance Angle

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Dec 10, 2020

Publicly-held life insurers are using reinsurance to improve their balance sheets. But at what cost? 'I believe that many of these blocks of business are only being funded in...

Published December 10, 2020

Treasury Nominee Janet Yellen (the Un-Steve Mnuchin)

By Kerry Pechter Thu, Nov 26, 2020

Yellen, the first woman nominated for Treasury chief, is an academic economist, not a Wall Streeter. As Fed chief, she was known as an interest rate “dove;” more inclined...

Published November 26, 2020

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